Baltimore Orioles Owner Doesn’t Seem Too Concerned About Winning AL East

The Baltimore Orioles owner believes his team will get the job done whether they win the division or not.

Jul 30, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles majority owner David Rubenstein speaks with Cal Ripken behind home plate during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles are a half-game behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East, giving them an opportunity to still win the division with about three weeks left to play.

The Orioles will take on the Yankees in a three-game set starting on Sept. 24, which will likely determine the winner.

Outside of that series, Baltimore has a somewhat favorable schedule.

However, the issue is they haven't played well against teams they should be beating over the past few weeks. They dropped two of three against the Tampa Bay Rays and even lost a game to the Chicago White Sox, who are on pace to be the worst team in Major League Baseball history.

Fortunately, they played well in the first half of the campaign.

Their struggles in the second half are likely due to the injuries that have only piled up as the year has gone on. 

Owner David Rubenstein addressed that, acknowledging the Orioles were a better team in the first half.

"Obviously everybody knows that the team played better in the first half than the second half,” he told The Baltimore Sun in an interview Wednesday. "Baseball is 162 games a year. Players have injuries, players have slumps. We're in reasonably good shape because we are what, half a game out of first place? Do I wish we won every game we play? Of course."

Nonetheless, Rubenstein doesn't seem too worried about making the playoffs.

From the sound of things, he likes their chances, no matter how Baltimore gets in.

"We'd like to be in first place. There's an advantage to it, but I'm not at all worried about our being in the playoffs," he said. "I think we will be, for sure, and I just don't know which position we'll come in."

That shows his confidence in the ball club, but it's also important to note that, given how young this team is, having more home games would be the best possible scenario.

Considering the Orioles are also in contention to get the No. 1 seed in the American League, they would have home field advantage for the entire playoffs up until the World Series if they got that far.

As teams have shown throughout the past few years, especially with the third Wild Card coming into play, winning the World Series, or getting there, without winning the division is possible.

If a team gets hot at the right moment, they often win.

Baseball is a funny game with many variables, so whether they win the division or not, Baltimore will have to hope that luck is on their side and they're playing their best when it matters most.